This is the question of the year, so it goes first. Insurance pays for sudden, accidental losses. It doesn't pay to fix something that was worn out or wasn't built right in the first place, and a computer, VCR or cash register that can't handle the year 2000 falls in that second group. Getting your equipment ready is upkeep, the same as a new roof or a furnace cleaning, and that cost is yours.

If an ordinary covered loss happens, a fire for instance, your homeowners policy generally works the same on January 1 as on any other day. But read any endorsements, the extra pages, that came with your renewal this year.

Business policies are another matter. Many of them now carry a Year 2000 exclusion, which limits or takes away coverage for losses caused by a date problem in a computer or a machine. If you own a business, bring your policy in this fall and we'll go over it with you line by line. It takes half an hour, and the coffee is free.

Keep paper copies of your policies, your policy numbers and our phone number somewhere you can find them, not just on the computer. The same goes for bank statements. If you're buying a generator, have an electrician hook it up with a proper transfer switch. A generator plugged into the house the wrong way can send power back down the line and hurt the lineman working on it. And if you heat with a space heater, keep it three feet from anything that burns, whatever year it is.

Usually not. On most auto policies, hitting a deer comes under comprehensive, which some policies call "other than collision." Swerving to miss the deer and going into the ditch or a fence post is generally collision. That's one more reason not to swerve: brake hard, hold the wheel straight, and hit it if you have to. A deer is a lot cheaper than a tree. Write down where it happened, and call us the next morning.

No. A standard homeowners policy doesn't cover flood or rising surface water. Flood insurance is a separate policy through the National Flood Insurance Program, and we can write it for you. There is generally a thirty-day wait before a new flood policy takes effect, so don't wait until the river is coming up.

Water backing up through a floor drain or a sump is a different thing again. Most homeowners policies leave it out unless you add a sewer and drain backup endorsement. It doesn't cost much, and if you have a finished basement, you want it.

Often some of it is, if he's living in a dormitory and is still part of your household, but usually only up to a portion of your contents coverage. An apartment off campus is a different story. A computer, a stereo and a good bicycle add up fast. Call before he packs the car, not after somebody walks off with the bicycle.

Not for much, if anything. Most homeowners policies give little or no coverage to a snowmobile once it leaves your yard, and no liability coverage out on the trails. A snowmobile policy isn't expensive. Get it before the first snow, not after the first crash.

If a tree comes down on your house or garage in a storm, the damage to the building is generally covered, and there is usually some money toward getting the tree off it. If the tree falls across the lawn and doesn't hit anything, cleaning it up usually isn't covered. And if your neighbor's tree falls on your garage, it's generally your policy that pays for your garage, which surprises people every single time. Take pictures before anything gets moved, cover any holes in the roof with a tarp so the rain doesn't add to the damage, and call us.

Rates go up for everybody in an area when the companies pay out more than they take in, after a bad hail year, say, or a winter with a lot of fires. Building costs go up too, so your house is insured for more than it was. None of that makes the bill easier to open. If your premium went up and you don't know why, call us. Sometimes another of our companies will do better for you, and finding that out is what an independent agent is for.

Replacement cost pays what it takes to buy or build new. Actual cash value pays what the thing was worth the day you lost it, which is the new price less wear and tear. A ten-year-old davenport at actual cash value doesn't bring much. Many homeowners policies have replacement cost on the house but actual cash value on the contents unless you ask for more. Look at your declarations page, or let us look at it with you.

Yes, please. A homeowners policy is written for a home. If you do day care, sell crafts, fix small engines in the garage or keep books for other people at the kitchen table, your business equipment, your stock and your liability to customers may not be covered, or may be covered only for a small amount. There are inexpensive ways to add it, and it's a lot better to find out now.

Maybe not much, and I'll tell you that to your face. Life insurance is for the people who would be left holding the bills. If nobody depends on your paycheck and nobody co-signed your loans, you may only need enough to bury you. When you marry, buy a house or have a baby, that changes in a hurry. Term insurance is cheapest when you're young and healthy, which is one reason people buy it then.

1. Make sure everybody is all right, and get help for anyone who isn't.
2. Call the sheriff or the police.
3. Trade names, addresses, insurance companies and policy numbers with the other driver.
4. Don't argue about whose fault it was. That gets settled later, and not on the shoulder of the road.
5. Write down what happened while you still remember it: the time, the weather, which way everybody was going.
6. Call us. We'll take it from there.

Keep a pencil and an index card in the glove box with our phone number on it. It's a funny thing, but people who have been in a wreck can't always remember their own agent's name.